This invention relates to a golfing aid for improving the capacity of a player to correctly execute the swing of a golf club.
A golf club during a swing should be maintained to move through an arc, starting at the address position (bottom of the stroke) and moving upwards during the backstroke to its top position and then downwards during the downswing to strike the golf ball and again upwards during the follow-through. This swing should be carried out with the club held firmly in the two hands of the player, with the player leaning forward and swinging his body during the major portion of the stroke to cause the head of the club to follow the correct arc. During this process the leading arm generally plays the role of acting as the guide for the path of the club so that the swing of the leading arm directs the path of the club, whereas the lagging arm plays a lesser role in maintaining the path of the golf club and a greater role in propelling the club.
During the swinging motion the club is turned about the axis of its shaft in one direction on the upward movement and in the reverse direction on the downward movement and it will thus be realised that it is highly important to be able to control not only the swing of the club in the arc, but also its rotation about the shaft axis as it moves through the arc in both the upward and downward swing. At the time that the head strikes the ball, the club must be accurately positioned to propel the ball in the required direction.
It has been long recognised that the swing of the golf club is one of the critical factors of a consistent performance, and a great deal of experimentation has taken place to analyse the faults of individual players and to provide an aid to assist in the improvement of a golf swing. A great number of devices have been constructed ranging from complex and large structures including robotic arms to assist in guiding the swing of the player, or hoops to guide the head of the golf club in the correct arc. Each of these methods and apparatuses are directed at certain aspects of the swing and assist to varying degrees in improving the swing.
Many of the larger, complex devices suffer the fault of inconvenience of use, a large requirement of storage space and also expense, and are usually unaffordable to the majority of golf players because of the high cost.
A number of smaller devices have also been suggested each focussing on specific aspects of the position of the golf club relative to the body of the player. The present invention is one of several that is related to a guide member that attaches to or is made as part of the shaft of a golf club and which gives an indication of the quality of the swing by its position relative to a body part of the user.
A number of suggestions have been made that have a guide member extending from the stem of a golf club or practice club at an angle to avoid contact with the limbs of the user when the club is swung. U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,775 by Wood has the guide member positioned to correct a slice swing. The guide member extends downwardly so that if the club shaft is not rotated in a counter clockwise direction to the desired position, the guide member will contact the rear leg of the user. U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,054 by Stewart is somewhat similar to the concept in U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,775 except that the guide member is intended to pass between the forearms of the user, should the swing be faulty then contact will be made with one or other of the forearms of the user. U.S. Pat. No. 3,918,721 by Tradsk uses a flexible guide member, which is attached to the golf club the end position of the flexible guide member can be placed in a variety of positions. The majority of the uses are related to non-contact positions of the wrist and/or forearm.
There are also a number of documents that make suggestions of apparatuses where the guide member makes contact with part of the body of the user. U.S. Pat. No. 2,462,955 by Glancy has a member which clamps onto the stem of a golf practice stick or golf club, the end of the member rests on the shoulder of the lagging arm when in its top position and is removed when the downswing commences. Australian Patent specification 618518 in the name of Cox is similar to the Wood device except that the guide is in the form of an arcuate guide member, which maintains contact with the wrist of the lagging arm throughout the stroke so that a break in contact or increased pressure indicates a fault. U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,426 in the name of Cox is a further development of the above Australian patent where a stop is connected with the arcuate guide member which stop is to contact the forearm of the lagging arm so that the angle of the forearm of the lagging arm relative to the shaft of the golf-club is defined at the commencement of the downswing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,812 in the name of Lorang is the closest known prior art to the present invention. This document suggests a guide member which has a spring loaded "clicker" device. The free end of the guide member starts off in contact with the lagging forearm of the user, thus when the user brings the club up on the back swing, contact of the guide member on the forearm actuates the clicker so that the player hears the "click" which indicates that the club is correctly positioned. On the downswing the clicker will again click to indicate that contact with the lagging forearm has broken. At the end of the follow through contact is again made with the lagging arm to show that the correct position has been assumed. The use of this device is said to teach the "piggy back" of the cocking of the wrist together with the arm swing to increase the speed with which the club strikes the ball.
All the above prior art concentrates on aspects of the golf swing which centre on the position of the golf club relative to body parts such as the shoulder, relative to both forearms to pass therebetween, and most specifically with the lagging arm. The present invention however has found that by focussing on the leading arm far greater improvements can be achieved, and in particular facilitates with tactile feedback that the leading arm and consequently the shaft of the golf club are maintained within a correct plane to execute an improved golf swing.
Of particular detriment to maintaining an optimum swing is a fault that commonly occurs at the beginning of the downward stroke, and again at the end of the stroke which draws the shaft of the golf club out of the virtual plane of the swing. Such a fault is known as wrist cock where instead of maintaining the hand in the plane of the swing the wrists are bent in the direction in which the fmgers curl and consequently draws the shaft out of the plane of the swing. Instead of extending the reach by wrist cock it is desirable to extend the reach by radial deviation of the wrist where the wrist is bent in the plane that might best be described as the plane of the palm. Radial deviation is not detrimental to the swing because, at all times, the shaft of the club is within the plane of the swing, whereas with wrist cock the plane of the swing is only entered once the swing has begun, and consequently there is considerably less control and consequently considerably less consistency of swing.